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I have a Dell. Please stop laughing.

Jeizzavelle

Jeizzavelle

New Member
My #2 boss (VP) bought me a new Dell in 2004. You shoulda seen the ancient POS I was using before that. But, anyhow I'm 3 seconds from harping for something better. What should I get? (Be aware the Pres. does NOT like to spend) The VP is cool and understands the need for good equiptment.
 
WVB

WVB

New Member
Depends on what you will be using it for......... Min 1GB RAM, Min 150GB Hard Drive, AMD or Intel you choose. Nothing smaller then P4 3.0ghz, Min 128mb Video Card ATI or nVidia.
 
B

Bobby H

Arial Sucks.
As cheap as RAM has become, 2GB should really be your starting point. Go with 4GB if you can afford it.

For example, Adobe Creative Suite 2 Premium apps ran okay on my notebook with 1GB of RAM. When I maxed it out at 2GB of 533MHz DDR2 SDRAM there was a big speed improvement, especially with PhotoshopCS2.

I think Dell PCs are fine. We have a bunch of them in our shop and all have been very reliable. However, I will add we don't go cheap on the units we buy. In doing that, any given computer in our studio can last several years. I'm typing this post from a Dimension 9100 (equipped with a Pentium D 840 CPU, 2GB of RAM, 250GB SATA hard disc, 256MB GeForce6800 video card, Audigy2 audio card with IEEE port, DVD+/-RW burner, etc.).

We are in the process of replacing a old 1999 P3 550 Dell tower with a new computer we're building ourselves (as an experient to see how well the process works). Had one snag immediately. Newegg sent us the wrong Asus model motherboard. This new machine has better equipment than the one I'm using (Pentium D 920 CPU, 2GB of Corsair DDR2 RAM, 400GB SATA HDD, 256MB GeForce 7800GT video card, dual layer DVD burner with LightScribe capability and a number of extras such as front side Firewire and USB ports).

As to the "get a Mac thing," it's a funny joke. But pretty difficult to manage in reality. Once you have been working on either platform for any given amount of time you get locked into it quick. The price is HIGH for jumping to a different platform, even going the Mac to PC route.

I was disappointed to hear Microsoft will not feature support for Intel's Extensible Firmwire Interface (EFI) in the upcoming releases of Windows Vista. EFI is a 64-bit "bootstrap" that replaces standard BIOS chips. You'll find EFI instead of a BIOS chip in any new Intel-based Mac. The lack of BIOS will prevent any version of Windows from running natively on a new Intel based Mac. Until Windows Vista adds support for EFI, that incompatibility will remain. Unfortunately that will also kill any intentions on my part of buying a Mac. I'm not going to buy one unless I can dual boot a copy of Windows and run my existing applications on it. The cost is simply too high to have to buy everything all over again.
 
Tom

Tom

New Member
I just bought a DELL,for the 5th time since I'm in business (Over 10 years) and I'm very happy with the value and performance.
XPS 600.
2 Gig of RAM,
Dual P4 @ 3.0 Mhz Processors,
Nvidia GeForce 7800,
(2) 300Gig HD,
DVD Rom
DVD Burner
Card Readers
Wireless Keyboard and Mouse
23" wide LCD monitor w/TV card,
XP Pro.
About $3000.00

The machine Flies and everything works! I'll buy another DELL when the time comes.
 
M

mark in tx

New Member
Support your local computer guys!
You might be surprised at how good a computer you can get for the price of a Dell. With all the advantages of dealing with a local business. Set your specs, and call around.

ps.
The geeks have found a way around the EFI on the Intel Macs and are Dual Booting them already.
 
J

jayhawksigns

New Member
If you have the ability and knowledge too, I say building the computer yourself is the best way to go.

AMD Athlon X2 4200+
Gigabyte GA-K8N Pro-SLI
G.Skill 4GB Ram
Gigabyte 6600GT 128mb
Seagate 80GB SATAII x2
Seagate 250GB SATAII x2
LG DVD+RW
LG DVD-ROM
Floppy
Case
Antec SilentPower 2.0 500W
Windows XP Pro
Viewsonic VX2025 20" widescreen x2
Also included in the total are 10 - 80mm fans, 2 - round ide cables, 1 - round floppy cable, and 4 - sata cables. Not all the fans were for this computer.

Total w/ Shipping - $2557.56
 
B

Bobby H

Arial Sucks.
mark in tx said:
Support your local computer guys!
You might be surprised at how good a computer you can get for the price of a Dell.
Click to expand...

Perhaps...and perhaps not.

I will only deal a local custom computer builder on certain conditions. Often local builders will use cheapest odd ball components they can find. Many want to argue about how you don't really need that one component or feature they can't provide. There's usually too much compromise involved. On top of that many are unwilling to give you the OS install discs that are, by law, supposed to come with the machine. That's because lots of those mom and pop shops use the same OS disc to load Windows on multiple machines -all so they can save $200 per box.

If I want a kit computer I'll build one myself with the exact components of my choosing. I can order them from a variety of sources on the Internet, save a bundle of money and also save on sales tax.

Dell is including sales tax on their mail order systems in an increasing number of states. Oklahoma residents now have to pay sales tax on any Dell purchase. That's due to the big tech support call center they built in Oklahoma City. I think the rule is if the business has a physical presence in the state then they have to charge sales tax on products they sell there. Well, at least that's how Oklahoma is playing it.

jeph4e said:
XP on a mac working as of today. We'll see how good it is...
Click to expand...

I guess that's promising. How many hoops does the user have to jump through to make that hack work? Virtual Windows under OSX is not a viable solution for me. Emulation in any form sucks for all graphics program use. I will only run graphics stuff in native operation.
 
Cadmn

Cadmn

New Member
well Bobby there again HP & compaq both do not furnish origional os install disks they supply repair type disks not the origionals & their tech support is based in india now & like to hum haw around if the answer isnt in their little book I just built my son an AMD dual core 4800 with 2gig of ram ,pci express 256 video card. dual 21" moniters. I'm selling 21" moniters at 150.00 when I can get them (off lease moniters)
 
B

Bobby H

Arial Sucks.
Yeah, I've noticed the increasing trend of mainstream computer manufacturers to just put the OS "install disc" on the computer's hard drive and not ship any CDs with the system. Dell is even doing this on some of their product lines. You have to go in and make sure you have that OS disc thing checked.

Frankly I believe that sort of policy is extremely stupid on the part of the manufacturers. What do you do if your hard drive crashes? Go buy a new hard disc and brand new off the shelf copy of Windows?

Any computer user is best advised to back up his OS installation to an external hard disc drive (to basically "ghost" that boot partition). Without an OS install disc, the user really has no choice but to regularly back up that partition via HDD. Most casual computer users are not going to do that. They will be very sorry if that hard drive toasts itself.
 
J

jayhawksigns

New Member
All the more reason why I build everything myself.

I'm looking forward to a fun weekend. I will have all of the components for our second computer we are building tomorrow. Its identical to one I have already built, so I'm going to run them side by side and see which one I can push farther and keep that one. Unfortunately the two new 19" LCD monitors that came in today I don't get to keep.
 
jimdes

jimdes

New Member
I'll second the tiger direct link. I've been buying from them for years and they have been nothing but the best when it comes to tech support, service, price, availability and selection.

As for my "shop machine" I bought from Best Buy the last time and went with an "off the shelf" HP. Best Buy has the "Geek Squad" and they also have an in house repair facility for certain manufacturers. If you're close to Best Buy, check into it.
 
Cadmn

Cadmn

New Member
the geekSquad & call a geek & most others are taught how to sell repairs & sometimes you will end up Paying for more repair than you origionally needed
 
E

ENTDesign

New Member
Why should we laugh at your Dell? I run my vinyl cutter off a 200MHz pentium running upgrade Win98. I run Quickbooks off my office PC running Win95. I do Adobe off my G4 Mac on OSX. But if I had some $$$ to blow I'd get a tablet PC. I would love to draw right on the screen.

Get the fastest intel system with the most ram your boss will shell for.
 
Jeizzavelle

Jeizzavelle

New Member
OK. Thanks guys. I think I got an ok RAM dell. Nothing fancy. But VP is VERY cool and will get exactly what I need when the time comes. I just didn't know what that was. Tahnks.
 
Checkers

Checkers

New Member
To overly simplify the process, a computer is a tool that you use to make money. When it is not working, you are loosing money. So, you need to buy from someone who will get you back up and running as soon as possible, if and when the system fails.
I haven't found anyone local that can do that. And, unless you're skilled at building and maintaining computers, I wouldn't go that route either.
Here's a link to a purchase I made about a year ago...

http://www.letterhead.com/ubb-cgi/ultimatebb.cgi/topic/1/33108.html

It was a compromise, but I was satisfied with the end result

Whatever you do, stay away from your consumer level products like HP/Compaq. They just can't handle the processing that a modern sign shop/printer will put them through.

Good luck,

Checkers
 
Techman

Techman

New Member
Buy a DELL. they run great and they are very inexpensive...

Then,,

If you mess it up call your local geek. Befriend the best one you can find. And keep him well fed with lots of coka cola and chips. No need to worry about any problems after that. Find a geek (like me) who has a machine so well tweaked that it never crashes (like mine) and let him tweak it yours (as many of my friends have) and listen to his advice. (IE: not using IE or Outlook or Norton's stuff) You will find yourself making much money with a machine that does not quit.
 
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